Kenya-Three UK diplomats yesterday were evicted from a hotel meeting in Eldoret in Kenya's Rift Valley by a local politician for "violating protocol".

 Daniel Chemno, the deputy governor of Uasin Gishu County, was reported to have stormed into a meeting at a hotel in Eldoret where the British officials were meeting civil society groups.

"How can you come here without having the courtesy of notifying the county government of your presence and purpose of your visit as diplomatic protocol demands?" he said.

According to report, the UK diplomats were suspected of interfering in the International Criminal Court cases of Kenya's leaders at The Hague.

Eldoret is the home of Deputy President William Ruto, who has denied charges of crimes against humanity.

The UK says their High Commission officials were in the area to discuss a sports event to promote peace.

The charges against Mr Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta are related to the violence following the disputed 2007 election, which left some 1,200 people dead.

Diplomatic relations between Kenya and the UK are at an all-time low because of the ICC cases.

The area around Eldoret saw a lot of inter-community violence after the 2007 poll.

Last week, the UN Security Council rejected an attempt to suspend the trials at the ICC for a year.

The resolution fell short of two votes needed to pass it, with the UK, US and France abstaining.

This week at an annual meeting of ICC member states, there has been a discussion about whether the treaty setting up the court should be changed to allow heads of states immunity from prosecution, prompted by Kenyan and the African Union.